Fort Carson, Colorado Questions.?

Question

So my husband and I are moving to Fort Carson in September, and I dont know what to expect, with housing, base living, with the other wives and families etc. I was Curious on how housing works. Do we have to apply or are we placed somewhere? If I do have to apply, when do I do that? Is the housing there nice? I have a MILLION questions and I could go on, but any information would be very helpful!

-He graduates AIT Sept.5th and we're supposed to report there by the 17th.

-ALSO I know we are supposed to drive(from Cincinnati Ohio), but we dont have a car, and we are planning on buying one, but I have bad credit and he doesnt have any, so any suggestions?? Thank you!!!

Answer 1

hahahah you guys are screwed. fort carson sucks. AIT sucks. army sucks.

Answer 2

Fort Carson is just south of Colorado Springs--"The Springs"  (where one ends the other begins.)  My dh and I were stationed there at one time.  

Any post will have a waiting list, so expect to find off post housing for a while.  It took us about a year to finally get into post housing.  There is really old housing there and some newer housing.  We got into the oldest housing, which was okay.  It was a small townhouse type with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a living/dining combo, kitchen, laundry room, and half bath downstairs.   Some housing has basements others don't some are single level some are two story.  We had a common front area, and a teeny tiny back yard with a fence--about 10 by 10--which included a storage closet.

We weren't having to pay for utilities anymore so we liked it--utilities can get expensive especially in winter.  We liked that our housing was closer to things like the PX, Commissary and a playground.  Still, we couldn't walk to either the PX or Commissary--too far.  

When you get to post you will probably stay at the Inn on Post and then you will have to make the rounds taking care of paperwork, which is when you will get placed on the waiting list.  

We were up there this past summer while on vacation--had to show our eldest daughter our old stomping grounds and noticed that there is more housing than when we were there, so the wait might not be as long.  The rest of post hadn't changed much in over 10 YEARS, with the exception of heightened security and less gates to use--which doesn't really matter to the average person/soldier.  My dh was at the airfield since he was Army Aviation and those extra ways on and off post always made it easier for him to get to and from work.  

Fort Carson has a decent px, shoppettes, and commissary, which is basically we all ever used as far as post things.  If I can recall well enough there is a theatre and bowling alley and a library--which we used a few times.  The hospital is Evans.  At one time I got into a program through ACS--Army Community Service where I did aerobics while my toddler played with other toddlers.  I also did pottery for a spell and I'm sure they still have that.  Ironhorse park sometime has events--our daughter's first fireworks show was there.  They also had a Harvest Festival with pony rides, face painting--things like that at some other park or field while we were there.  There is a dog kennel, daycare, youth center, equipment rental (camping etc), autocenter, laundromat, several chapels on post, but we didn't use them some at all or very often.  Fort Carson is a decent post, but not really walkable things are too far apart.  

The basic area of Colorado Springs is beautiful---gorgeous.  It is a high mountain area (the elevation is greater than a mile high--higher than Denver), so drink plenty of water, wear plenty of sunscreen and take it really easy when you first get there.  I'm not a "there is nothing to do" type of complaining person, so we always found something fun or interesting to do.  Colorado Springs has minor league baseball (skysox), an ice arena (public skating), cheyenne mountain zoo (save for when you've climitized as it is located higher than the rest of town and is a steep place to walk), quaint tourist towns like Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City (decorated beautifully at Christmas), Garden of the Gods (a rock formation park where you can hike trails, horseback ride and climb the rocks--the kissing camels are my youngest's favorite.  The Trading Post at the Garden of the Gods is a great place to shop for your colorado souvenirs and other knick-knacks.  

Pikes Peak (again save this for later--it is over 14,000 ft--snow-capped for most of the year), there are 2 main malls--the Citadel is closest to Ft. Carson, the other is the Chapel Hills on the north end just south of the Air Force Academy.  There are two Air Force bases nearby (the Academy and Peterson--we liked there BXs)  The Academy has the Chapel which is a must see and displays of old airplanes and of course football games.    Other area attractions are Seven Falls (it is pretty and the atmosphere is nice, just don't expect Niagara Falls.), Cave of the Winds (a cave--again don't expect something huge like Carlsbad Caverns), and the Cliff Dwellings at Manitou Springs.    

The Olympic Training Center offers tours as does Norad, Van Briggle Pottery (never did NORAD, but the OTCenter and Van Briggle was pretty interesting.)  The Ghost town was just ok.  There are several nice parks in the Springs with small lakes, ponds and fountain features--Memorial, Celebration (I hope I got the names right and not mixed up with some other post!!)  The Springs is a decent sized town and Denver is just 70 miles north and Pueblo just 45 miles south.  

There is a really nice outlet mall in Castlerock 45 North of the Springs.  There is an Amusement Park nearby The North Pole which has a Christmas theme--our little one loved it

Answer 3

FT. Carson is sweet I lived there for a year you will love the mountains.

Answer 4

Housing will depend on if they have a waiting list or anything available. You can choose to live on post or off. If you move off post, you will receive a monthly housing allowance to cover the cost of rent. If you live on post, you will get a house (or put on the waiting list) for one that is appropriate for your husband's rank. When you get there, he will in process many offices...one of which is housing. At that point, they will go over all the options with him.

As for bad credit and trying to get a car, you can check out his link. http://usmiles.com/

It is for service members in your situation. I will warn you, you will get hammered by the interest rate, so I would only use this as a last resort. But if you have no other options, this may be the way you have to go.